Many of you probably know this already. But even if so, it bears repeating. In fact, it bears relentlessly repeating in order to shame the Motion Picture Academy. Shame them so badly that they finally acknowledge their gaff and don't just say, "Well, we put his picture in our "online In Memoriam gallery," and then they correct it and honor him next year.

Every year there are people the Oscarcast leaves out. Big names. And whenever somebody mentions a name that got forgotten, we all can point to another, "Well, yeah, but what about..." And indeed this year, there were again many big names they left out. It happens. I get it. It's unfortunate.

But how do you leave out Andy Griffith?

I mean, seriously?

Forget that he's one of TV history's most iconic stars. This is about movies, after all.

Forget that he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is about movies, not "for demonstrating the finest qualities of our country and for a lifetime of memorable performances that have brought joy to millions of Americans of all ages."

Forget that he wasn't just a TV star, but made a dozen feature films over 40 years, even up until 2009. Hey, lots of people made a lot of movies.

But if all Andy Griffith did in his life was star in A Face in the Crowd and No Time for Sergeants -- two of the classic, if not iconic films of the 1950s -- THAT alone would be enough to require he be honored in motion picture lore forever. And remembered In Memorium by the Industry he honored.

A Face in the Crowd, for God's sake.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

American icon.

No Time for Sergeants,

Oh, did I say, A Face in the freaking Crowd...

How do you leave out Andy Griffith?

Putting him in your "online In Memoriam gallery" doesn't cut it.

Who thought it made sense to leave out Andy Griffith? What were their reasons?

And Harry Carey Jr. (150 films, many of them starring for John Ford), Cliff Osmond (frequent Billy Wilder player), Gore Vidal (legendary screenwriter, as well as author), and a parade of famous character faces that if you don't know their names, you immediately would have known them by their faces: Lupe Ontiveros (Real Women Have Curves), Ben Gazzara (Anatomy of a Murder), R.G. Armstrong (The Wild Bunch), Alex Karras (Blazing Saddles)...these are the faces we've seen all our lives. A little respect in passing, Hollywood.

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Robert Elisberg

2/26/2013 11:31:30 pm

All very true, and I'm glad you brought them all up. All should have been referenced at the Oscar (rather than just having Barbra Streisand singing alone on camera with a picture of Marvin Hamlisch behind her). They could have -- should have -- at the very least had the big screen behind her scrolling with different faces.

Just to be clear, the only reason I didn't mention these other highly deserving people was because I was just wondering -- how do you leave out one of the most famous actors in America of the past 50 years? But you're right, all of them deserved mention.

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Author

Robert J. Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for the Huffington Post. Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel. As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.